


Solar

by psuedopoetic



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Slightly AU?, k i lied this is gonna have some mega au elements, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:49:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psuedopoetic/pseuds/psuedopoetic
Summary: In which Hearne Fowler joins a team of young heroes, only to realize she still has much to learn about the world.
Relationships: Kon-El | Conner Kent/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**HEARNE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT IT WAS FINALLY HAPPENING.** Being a hero was what kept her on the right path--kept her from becoming like her family--and the fact that she was going to become more than a sidekick finally? It was one of the best feelings she ever had.

It wasn't that she didn't like being Batman's sidekick--she did, it was nice, she liked it, but she wanted to be something else. She didn't just want to be Robin's partner and Batman's sidekick, she wanted to be more, to be treated seriously by everyone. 

They were two minutes late because of Mister Freeze in Gotham City, but they were still the first to arrive. And, as usual, Barry and Wally weren't even there yet.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Green Arrow said. "Headquarters of the Justice League."

She heard them a split-second before they arrived. "Aw, man!" Wally groaned as he skidded to a stop. "I knew we'd be the last ones here."

"Flash," Batman greeted with a nod of his head.

"Batman." He glanced at the crowd gathering by the Hall. "Looks like it's time, huh?"

"It is."

Hearne walked beside Dick, a curl of anxiety starting to form. It was one thing for people to see her as Olympia--but to be all around her, snapping photos and videos while yelling to get her attention? An entirely different thing, something she did not want to get used to.

"Have all four sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?"

She went to answer, but Roy did first. " _Don't_ call us sidekicks, not after today."

"Sorry," Wally whispered. "First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Dick frowned. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed--why isn't anyone ever just _whelmed?_ "

"Because whelm means--"

Hearne didn't finish, because they were stepping inside the Hall of Justice. Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch as she stared up at the statues of the founding members of the Justice League--they were huge, they made all of them look like specks of dust. The people were still behind them, flowing into the Hall, but Hearne did her best to ignore it as a set of reinforced metal doors opened to reveal Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

"Robin, Olympian, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash," Martian Manhunter greeted. "Welcome." He turned and walked back behind the doors, and they all followed. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library."

Hearne's eyes widened to the size of small planets, and with a miniscule nod from Batman, she went over to the long bookshelf that ran along the right wall and ran her fingers over them. Her finger stopped on one--Ancient Greek. She went to pull it out, just to see what it could possibly be about and why they had one in Ancient Greek, but Wally spoke up before she could.

"We're in the Hall of Justice, and you're going to read a _book?_ "

She crossed her arms as she leaned against the bookshelf. "Maybe if you read more things than just science textbooks you would understand _why._ " The Zeta Beam started to announce their mentors as it scanned them and Hearne's eyebrows pinched together. "Where are they going?"

"Debrief with other League members," Dick informed her. "I think it's about the ice villains."

Roy walked forward, clearly angry by how his shoulders were set, until he reached the Leaguers. "That's _it?_ " he demanded. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass."

"It's a first step," Aquaman said. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh really?" Roy flung his hand out to gesture at the windows above them where people were snapping photos--Hearne hadn't noticed them before. It made her want to hide. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy," Green Arrow tried, "you just need to be patient."

"What I need is _respect._ " He turned to the sidekicks, furious. "They're treating us like kids. Worse, _sidekicks_. We deserve better than this."

"Roy, we _are_ sidekicks," Hearne reminded him. "Maybe not today, but we have been for years. It doesn't just change all of a sudden. This is the first step. They let us in their Headquarters."

"Except this isn't their real HQ!" Roy yelled. "I bet they never told you, but it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zeta Beam teleporter tubes to the _real_ thing, an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Hearne blinked, trying to conceal how the words had hit her directly in the chest like knives. "I--I'm sure they had their reasons if they didn't tell us. They don't owe it to us."

Roy shook his head. "I expected more from you, O."

She looked down at her boots, her throat burning like a raging fire. Batman-- _Bruce_ \--had lied to her, and Athena probably had to, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't believe there was any justification. Had they told Dick and not her?

"You are not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman said. "Stand down--"

"Or what?" Roy challenged. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm _not_ your son. I'm not even his." He glared at his mentor. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore."

Roy threw his hat down and Hearne knew it was over. No matter what they tried, Roy would never come back, he would never be Speedy again.

He walked past them but paused for a split-second. "Guess they're right about you four."

Hearne slowly slid down the bookcase to sit on the floor. Everyone at the windows were gone, someone must have ushered them away when Roy started the argument. But was it even that? He was only stating the truth. And he was angry, like he should be. They had lied to them, all of them--and for what? They trusted them enough to watch their back under heavy gunfire, but not enough to know where they truly spent their time?

Roy was right. She wasn't all that she was made out to be. She had once been untouchable--a force to be reckoned with, the symbol of an empire that coursed through her veins. And what had she become? Someone that defended people who betrayed her?

When their mentors left through the Zeta Beam--she didn't quite catch what for--Hearne didn't follow the others to confront them. Because the truth was that she wasn't sure if she could stop herself from punching Batman harshly enough to break his nose.

She had trusted him--he was one of the first people she ever did--and what had he done? Stomped it under his designer shoes like it was nothing. Like _she_ was nothing.

"O!" Wally yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Our Boy Wonder's doing his thing!"

Hearne got to her feet and made her way over to them as Dick typed on the wide yellow keyboard. The computer announced that his access was denied, but Dick only laughed. "Wanna bet?"

The screen flickered wildly to life, numbers and letters passing wildly by, and the 'denied' flickered into a green 'granted.' "I never get tired of seeing that," Hearne whispered, loud enough for all of them to hear it.

"Alright, Project Cadmus," Dick said as a picture appeared on the screen of a building. "A genetics lab here in DC. That's it, but if Batman's suspicious maybe we should investigate."

Hearne felt a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Solve their case before they do," Kaldur observed. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey," Dick said with a laugh, "they're all about justice."

The Atlantean sighed. "But they said to stay put."

"For the blotting-out-the-sun mission, not this."

Wally's eyes lit up and he put a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Wait. A-are you going to Cadmus? Cause if you're going, I'm going."

The two smiled wildly--a pure shit-eating grin--and turned to Kaldur.

"Just like that," he said, "we're a team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a playdate."

Hearne bit her lip. "I hate to ruin whatever we've just done, but I have some . . . unfortunate news."

Kaldur blinked. "What is it?"

"Cadmus is--let's just say Batman is right to be suspicious of it." She sighed. "As you two know a bit of, my family was not on the same side of people as we are now. They knew the worst of the worst. And the people that work at places like Cadmus? They knew a lot of them."

"So what you're saying is . . . you know what could be inside Cadmus?"

"Maybe," Hearne said, vaguely answering Dick's question. "This was years ago when they were still alive, but I remember it. They wanted some of our DNA--to build clones, or to use it to build clones with other people's DNA."

Wally cringed. "Seriously?"

"I remember. A thin white man from Cadmus came with armed guards, asked if we could give some, and when we said no, I thought he was going to explode on the spot. But he left and--I don't know what happened after that. But it's been almost five years. Whatever's brewing in that building now, it can't be good."

"Well, it's too late to back out now," Wally said, seeming too excited. "We already formed a team and everything. I say we should start picking names."

"We can have whatever name--except one you choose."

"Aw, man!"

_* * *_

_**"DOES HE ALWAYS**_ have to run ahead?" Kaldur asked. "We need a plan, we--"

But Hearne and Dick had already left the older hero in the dust, and Hearne made it to the open window first, darkness dissipating beneath her feet as she helped Wally. He shook his hands from how tightly he was gripping onto the window sill but smiled widely. "Thanks Gorgeous."

"No." She looked to where Dick was typing in his Hologlove in the corner of the dark room. "Can Aqualad get up here on his own?"

"Most likely." He focused on whatever he was managing to hack into. "And if he can't, that's where you come in."

She scowled at him. "Why is it always me? You have a grappling hook--KF has superspeed. Why do I always have to transport people?"

"Because you can do it without breaking a sweat."

"Ha _ha_."

Kaldur hopped through the window, his feet slightly wet. "Thanks for your help."

"Always a pleasure," Wally saluted.

Hearne looked around the room they were in. It was dark, filled with what looked like junk computers that wouldn't function and filing cabinets with nonsense paper in them--it seemed like a fake storage room.

"This isn't right," she said as Kaldur walked out of the room. "This--none of this has been used. These computers don't even have cords, or power buttons."

She followed after Kaldur with the others, where he was walking slowly toward the elevator. "There was something in the--"

"Elevators should be locked down," Wally said.

"This is wrong." Hearne cocked her head at Dick, and he quickly pulled up something on his hologlove as an explanation. "Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building."

"Neither does what I saw."

Hearne pried open the door with a grunt of effort, and what she saw made her eyes go wide. "Guys," she said. "Come look."

Rows of lights when down the elevator shaft, so far down that she couldn't see them. There had to be over a hundred floors.

"And that's why they need an express elevator." Dick glanced at her. "Can you do it?"

"Everyone has to stay still and not be frightened by the darkness--it makes it hungry."

Wally blinked. "Uh, _what?_ "

A small platform of darkness formed in front of them and Hearne effortlessly walked on while the others slowly went, Dick a bit more comfortable with it than the rest. Hearne focused greatly on keeping the darkness as light as it could be, away from the others' consciousness, but it was hard. Especially since Kaldur had ties to mystic arts.

Wally let out a yelp as the darkness wobbled beneath them.

"Alright, who's getting scared?" She looked between the three boys. "No fear or it eats you."

"Oh, look, level twenty-six!" Wally cheered. "Wow, what a great place to get off."

He hopped onto the foot-wide metal beam that was at the door to the floor, and Hearne huffed as the others went too. She followed, watching as Robin bypassed the security.

Kaldur pried the door open this time, and when Hearne followed after, she was slightly shocked. Whatever was going on at Cadmus now, it was big. The hall they were in was wide and tall with metal machines on the sides, things she didn't even recognize.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," she whispered.

Wally sped forward, not even hearing Kaldur's protest as he blurred in front of their eyes. He let out a yelp and slid onto his side as giant grey beasts passed by, nearly trampling him. They had tusks and red eyes, leather-like skin--and their front legs were nearly hand-like, they walked on their knuckles like gorillas. She hoped that meant whatever they were had gorilla DNA and not human.

She skidded to a stop just as the others did, right beside Wally, and she could only watch as the creatures passed.

On top of one of the creatures was a small grey one, unlike them, the size of a small child. It had tiny horns on the top of its head, and they glowed a bright red--nearly white--as Hearne felt a nearly untouchable pressure in her mind.

She almost turned around, set on leaving Cadmus, before she shook her head forcefully. The creatures had already walked down the hall, but she couldn't see where they had gone.

"Did you guys feel it too?"

"Feel what?"

"That thing--the small creature on one of their backs--I think it's telepathic," she said. "Its horns glowed red and suddenly I wanted to leave Cadmus, to take all of you with me. I think those things--whatever they are--effect your mind."

"Telepathic creatures," Dick whispered. "Of _course_."

Wordlessly they sprinted down the hall until they found a shut metal door, where the creatures must have gone into. Hearne prepared herself as Dick hacked in to open the doors, but what she saw was not what any of them expected.

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed."

Dozens--probably a hundred--large tubes sat on metal shelving in the vast room, full of creatures. They were bright blue and crackled with electricity, lighting up the entire room.

"This is how they hide the massive underground facility from the world," Wally said as they walked through the room. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power with these . . . things. Must be what they're bred for."

"That's why they chose the name Cadmus," Hearne grimly said. "In Ancient Greek times, Cadmus created a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth. These things must be their dragon teeth."

Dick plugged a USB drive from his hologlove into a nearby computer. "Let's find out why." He typed briefly. "They call them . . . Genomorphs. Whoa, look at the stats on this thing. Super strength, telepathy, razor claws. These are living weapons!"

"That's what they wanted our DNA for. To create an army, but even we knew that army was too much for this world."

"Wait, there's something else--Project Kr. Ugh! The file's triple encrypted. I can't--"

"Don't move!"

Hearne turned, the voice sounding slightly familiar, to see several Genomorphs and a man. He had a golden helmet on, she couldn't see his face, but she could see his shock from what little she could. "Wait. Robin, Olympian, Kid Flash, Aqualad?"

"I know you," Kaldur said. "Guardian, a hero."

"I do my best."

"Then what are you doing here?" Wally asked defensively.

"I'm chief of security," he answered. "You're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons?" Wally yelled.

"Weapons? What are you . . . What have I . . ." The small Genomorph on his shoulder's horns glowed red, and his face went slack for a brief moment. "Take them down hard," he suddenly snarled. "No mercy!"

The Genomorphs burst forward, and with a throw of a smoke bomb down at their feet, Robin was gone. 

"We can't take all of them!" Hearne yelled. "Not without hurting them--and we're not going to do that!"

"We don't have a choice!" Wally yelled as a Genomorph came close to slicing off his nose.

"Grab on!" They grabbed onto her arms and she held onto theirs tightly, darkness shooting from beneath her as she carried them up toward the rafters and out through a maintenance shaft that had been left open.

They tumbled to the ground by an elevator door in a hallway, where Robin was attempting to hack into it.

"Way to be a team player, Rob," Wally scoffed.

"Weren't you right behind me?"

The door opened and Hearne pushed all of them in, creating a wall of darkness as the Genomorphs flooded into the hallway.

"Can that stop them?" Kaldur asked.

"It will long enough for us to be far from them."

The doors shut and she saw the numbers above the door slowly tick downward.

"Dude!" Wally yelled. "Out is up!"

"Excuse me?" Dick said. "Project Kr. It's _down_ , on sub-level 52."

"This is out of control." Kaldur rubbed at the nape of his neck. "Perhaps . . . Perhaps we should contact the League."

"No way," Hearne said, surprising the others. "I know, I always say contact the League when things go South. But we don't have time for that. These things--whatever Project Kr is--they'll be gone before the League get here. We have to go now, or we'll never know what they're doing here."

The doors dinged open on level 52, and they all walked out. They knew she was right. She knew more about any of this than they did--if she said it was the right decision, it had to be.

Hearne sucked in a breath. The halls were covered with a blood-red amber-like substance, purple shells encased in it. She didn't know what the purple was--if it was just the amber or truly a shell--and she didn't want to find out.

She sprinted after Robin, where she found him crouched behind barrels of what looked like gasoline.

"Which way?" Kaldur whispered.

"Yeah." Dick motioned with his hand, the one holding a razor-sharp disk. "Bizarre looking hallway one, or bizarre looking hallway two?"

"Halt!"

A large Genomorph--one that looked more human than the others--was standing ten yards from them. Hearne ducked as it telekentically threw three gas cans toward them that exploded onto the amber behind them.

"Run!" she yelled, shooting a stream of darkness toward the Genomorph. She heard it cry out, but she didn't wait to find out what it did as they ran down the dark hallway.

Wally ran ahead of them, and Hearne's lungs were starting to burn by the time they came around a corner and found him. A doctor was on the ground--Hearne didn't ask any questions.

"Hurry!"

They ran through the door that was being held open by a canister Wally had shoved in between it, and Hearne rammed her foot into it once she saw the Genomorphs come around the corner.

"I disabled the door," Dick said. "We're safe."

"We're trapped," Kaldur said.

"Uh, guys. You'll wanna see this."

Wally pressed a button on the computer and it made lights come on, revealing a tube only a few yards in front of them. Lights in the tube came on and Hearne nearly slapped a hand over her mouth.

In the tube were two small Genomorphs and a boy who looked around sixteen. They were unconscious, but that wasn't the issue. The boy looked exactly like Superman, only younger, even down to the slight crook in his nose.

"Big K, little r," Wally whispered as he walked up to it. "The atomic symbol for Krypton." He turned to them. "Clone?"

"Robin, hack," Kaldur ordered.

"Uh, right, right."

Hearne eyed the boy nervously. "If the clone--or whatever they are--is anything like Superman, I hope it doesn't wake up while we're here."

"Weapon designation Superboy," Dick reported. "A clone force-grown in . . . _sixteen weeks?_ From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," Kaldur corrected.

Wally's eyes were wide. "No way the big guy knows about this."

"Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7," Dick informed, looking down at his hologlove.

"And these creatures?" Kaldur asked.

"Genomorph Gnomes," Dick answered. "Telepathic, force-feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else," Wally said. "They're making a slave out of . . . well, Superman's _son_."

Kaldur grimaced. "Now we contact the League."

"No signal," Dick said. "We're in too deep . . . literally."

As they started to debate the morality of leaving the boy, Hearne stared, trying to find a fault, or something that would indicate anything about him. Then the two Gnomes' horns started to glow bright red.

"Guys," she said, the three boys still arguing. " _Guys_." They were still whispering. " _Guys!_ " she finally yelled, the harsh tone getting their attention. "The Genomorphs--they're active."

"That settles it," Kaldur said. "We free him, before they can do any more."

"Wait, no." Hearne held her hand up as Dick quickly typed away, the doors to the tube already sliding down. "We don't even know what he can do! We don't know the DNA he has, he could be worse than Superman!"

But it was no use. Superboy's face was already twitching awake, his fists curled tightly together, and he jumped forward, straddling Kaldur, immediately landing two harsh punches to his face.

Hearne sprinted over with the others, wrapping him into a chokehold while they got his arms. "We don't want to hurt you!"

Superboy flung Wally effortlessly, the boy shattering a tube of glass as he fell through it. He knocked his head back into Hearne's nose and she yelped in pain, blood starting to come down over her lips.

Dick muttered a quick sorry, and then a green smoke erupted around Superboy, and Kaldur kicked him backward, the boy getting to his feet in less than a few seconds. Dick quickly fired a taser, but it did no good--Superboy only grabbed the electric wires, pulled, and slammed him to the ground. He stepped on Dick's chest, full force, to the point that Hearne swore she heard a pop.

" _Don't fucking touch him!_ "

She collided with Superboy, her arms around his middle as they slammed into the amber wall. He landed a punch to her side and she gasped, pain rocketing through her ribcage, but she grabbed his head by the hair and slammed his head backward into the wall.

"We're trying to help you!" she yelled, only to get met with another punch to her already wounded nose. "Let us help you, asshole!"

He kicked her off, and she slammed into the opposite wall, her skull cracking back against it. The last thing she saw was Kaldur, swinging a hammer forward, and the blurry amber ceiling above her.


	2. Chapter 2

**HEARNE GASPED AWAKE, EYES WIDE AS SHE STRUGGLED AGAINST HER RESTRAINTS.** Her hands were handcuffed above her head with metal, and her feet were cuffed together, stretching her limbs as far as they would go.

The Superboy was standing in front of them, staring blankly, eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. The others were in similar tubes to hers, all bound by their wrists and ankles--she didn't want to think past that.

"Wh-what are you looking at?" Wally yelled angrily. "Quit staring. You're creeping me out!"

"Uh, KF, how about we _not_ tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Dick suggested.

"We only sought to help you."

"Yeah," Wally said, agreeing with Kaldur. "We free you, and you turn on us. How's that for grat--"

"It isn't his fault," Hearne huffed. "He doesn't know any better."

"Really? Because now we're in pods, about to probably be cloned and--"

"He can't control what he does," she said, glaring down the redhead. "You know that."

"What if I--what if I can't?" Superboy suddenly said.

"He can talk?" Wally gasped.

Superboy clenched his fists blankly. "Yes, he can."

Wally glanced between his friends. "Not like I said 'it.'"

"The Genomorphs taught you telepathically," Kaldur said. His tone was gentle, it reminded Hearne of when she'd seen him talk down a scared kid off a ledge.

"They taught me much. I can read, write. I-I know the names of things."

"But have you seen them?" Dick asked. "Have they ever actually let you see the sky? Or the sun?"

"Images are implanted in my mind, but no." He scowled at the floor. "I have not seen them."

"Do you know what you are?" Kaldur asked. " _Who_ you are?"

"I am the Superboy," he abruptly said, almost robotically. "A Genomorph made from the DNA of the Superman created to replace him should he perish . . . to destroy him should he turn from the light."

 _Motherfucker_.

"To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration," Kaldur said. "But like Superman you deserve a life of your own beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod--beyond _Cadmus_."

His face twisted at that. "I live _because_ of Cadmus! It is my home!"

"Your home is a tube," Hearne said, the genuine sincerity in her voice nearly overwhelming. "I know what it's like to know nothing but what people teach you, to never leave the only place they've let you stay. We can show you the world, the sun, everything--like someone showed me. You deserve a life beyond this lab--beyond this _room_. We can show you it, I promise."

"No, they can't." Hearne's stomach sunk as Dr. Desmond--the same man that came for her family's DNA--walked into the room, followed by Guardian, the female doctor from earlier, and several Genomorphs. "They'll be otherwise occupied." He looked to the woman. "Activate the cloning process."

"Pass," Dick said. "Batcave's crowded enough."

Dr. Desmond ignored him and turned to Guardian. "And get the weapon back in its pod!"

Hearne met Superboy's eyes. "You're not a weapon, Superboy," she pleaded. "I know you know that, I know you want to be more than that. You're not an it, or a weapon-- _you're a person_. Don't let these people take that from you."

She wouldn't let what happened to her happen to Superboy. He deserved a life.

When Guardian's hand rested on Superboy's shoulder, he shrugged it off, earning a scoff from Dr. Desmond. "Oh, don't start _thinking_ now." A Genomorph jumped off of his shoulder and onto Superboy's, and with its glowing red horns, Superboy's face went blank. "See, you're not a real boy. You're a _weapon,_ and you belong to me!" He frowned slightly. "Well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!"

Superboy left the room and Hearne struggled against the restraints. It was only Dr. Desmond, Guardian, and the female doctor, and Hearne knew exactly what they were going to do, they had already said it. 

Metal prongs shot up from the bottom of the pod and she struggled, writhing in the restraints as she tried to free herself. The prongs settled onto her chests and she screamed as electricity crackled through her body, the screams of her friends filling her ears.

She tried to yell, but it got caught in her throat, coming out like a choked scream instead of a word. She could _feel_ the life draining out of her, and no matter what she tried to do, the voltage was too strong--it was frying her from the inside out.

Everything was blurry, she could only feel her body on fire--for a moment, she thought she had caught on fire, but she knew it wasn't that. She had felt the explosion when the compound was bombed--fire was hotter than electricity.

When the voltage finally stopped, everything seemed to swim, and she could hear yelling and things breaking, but it all seemed muddled, like she was thousands of miles underwater and they were all on the surface world.

Suddenly the restraints released her and the pod's glass fell away and she fell forward, straight into the arms of Kaldur. She felt limp, like a rag doll, and she had to force herself to stand as everything seemed to twist around her.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," she groaned, nearly stumbling over.

"It is alright, he freed us."

That got her to open her eyes more, to see Superboy freeing the others. "Really? He did it?"

"He did." Kaldur helped her stand up more. "Can you run?"

"Probably not."

"Then we do it together."

Kaldur promptly picked her up bridal-style and she couldn't help it as she let out a tired laugh--it was comical. He was slightly slower than the others since she was in his arms, but he was still faster than Dick, who trailed slightly behind.

"We are still 42 levels below ground," he announced. "But if we can make the elevator . . ."

He skidded to a stop, nearly dropping her as the large, tusked Genomorphs cut them off at the end of the hall.

" _Shit,_ " she whispered. "Put me down, I can handle this."

"Are you s--"

"I can do it, now put me down."

She stood of shaky feet as the purple things behind them on the walls burst, more smaller Genomorphs spilling out of them. "Guys," she said. "Grab on. And don't get scared--think happy thoughts."

Superboy eyed a large Genomorph, fists clenched. "What are you doing?"

"I'll explain later," she said. "But just grab on, okay?"

His fists were shaking, jaw set as he stared at the Genomorphs.

"Listen, I know you're angry--I get that, you have every right to be." She took a deep breath, her skin still on fire from the electricity. "But if we don't go now, we're never getting out of this place."

That seemed to strike something in him, and with what she could only describe as a snarl, he finally grabbed onto Kaldur's shoulder. The five of them were flying through the air, darkness beneath them, carrying them higher and higher, directly over the Genomorphs. The large ones were too bulky to do anything, they only roared in anger as Hearne rammed her shoulder straight through the elevator door.

She cried out, nearly hitting the side of the elevator shaft as her body erupted with pain. 

"We can take it from here!" Dick yelled.

"No, it's fine, I can do this!"

They went rapidly upward, Hearne's throat as dry as the desert, head pounding--and then she saw the elevator coming down the shaft at an alarming speed. She jerked to the right, the darkness obeying her thoughts and commands, and thankfully Superboy kicked the floor's doors open, and the five of them fell, sprawled out onto the hallway floor.

There were growls of the Genomorphs from somewhere in the maze of hallways near them, and Hearne winced as she got to her feet. "C'mon, we have to go."

They took off sprinting, every movement eliciting a spark of pain, until it all blurred together into something she knew intimately. Every breath of hot air was comforting, like something she finally understood.

"Turn left!" 

At Superboy's order, they all turned left. She wondered how he knew where to go--he had been in the pod for the past six months--but she didn't question it too deeply. She only moved with the others each time Superboy yelled a direction, up until they turned right into a dead end.

She skidded to a stop right as Wally finished chastising the clone.

"I . . . I don't understand."

Dick smiled widely. "Don't apologize. This is perfect!"

"The vent," she whispered, punching her friend on the shoulder. "You're a genius!"

"Well, I've been called that once or twice."

Hearne huffed out a laugh as he fired a grappling hook into the vent once he took the front off, tearing straight into the metal side, forceful enough that he could climb the rope up the ten feet to the vent. Superboy was the last to go, right after Hearne and Wally, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

The air in the vents was hot and humid, worse with everyone crowded together in a line. Her body was aching miserably and being on her hands and knees didn't help, but there was an unfortunate lack of choices for her to make.

"At this rate, we'll never get out," Wally groaned.

"Shh. Listen."

They all turned at Superboy's whisper, and Hearne strained her ears to find whatever he was hearing. Her senses were well above the average human yet nowhere near Superman's level--she could barely hear what he was, but she recognized it as the muffled sound of things crawling through the vents.

"They're coming," she whispered. She wiped the sweat off the bridge of her nose with her gloved hand. "Hurry."

They went faster after that, doing their best to be quiet, but it was hard. They were in vents clearly not made for four muscular heroes and a clone of Superman, and on top of that, they were crawling for their lives. 

The second that they burst out of the vent into a hallway, Hearne didn't care that it hurt slightly to jump down ten feet from the vent. She only cared that she was out of the blistering vents.

She was wiping at her forehead when Robin looked up from where he was typing on his hologlove. "I hacked the motion sensors."

" _Sweet,_ " Wally said.

"Still plenty of them between us and out."

"But I've finally got room to move."

Wally snapped his goggles on and took off through the staircase door. Hearne was the first to follow him, but the others were immediately behind her, chasing the blurred trail of Wally. They passed a group of Genomorphs that he had knocked over, and she felt a small twinge of guilt.

"More behind us!" Dick yelled.

Superboy stomped down on the staircase behind them, and Hearne stumbled as it fell, the force shaking the next one. She ignored the screams of the Genomorphs as she continued upward, passing Dick and keeping an even pace with Kaldur.

When they got to the last staircase, the door was already open, and they sprinted out, the lights flashing red, alarm blaring, to find Wally, sprawled out across from a shut metal door.

"Those assholes locked us in," she said, anger starting to coil around her chest like a live wire.

Wally rubbed the back of his skull. "Thanks, my head hadn't noticed."

Superboy punched the metal doors, but it didn't work. Hearne and Kaldur walked forward, pulling with everything they had, but it was shut tight.

Large Genomorphs were coming around the corner, the floor shaking beneath them, and Hearne quickly followed after Dick as he kicked a door in the hallway open. They didn't know where it led, but anywhere was better than with the Genomorphs.

But the door opened into another hallway, where dozens of Genomorphs were waiting, Guardian in the front. More closed in behind them, trapping them, and Hearne was itching to do something, _anything_.

Darkness curled around her fists as she raised them, jaw set. She wouldn't go down without a fight, she wouldn't let them take her friends--

It felt like someone was sticking their fingers directly into her brain, and the others collapsed around her, limp. She brought her hands to her head, cradling it as she fell to her knees. The pressure intensified, and she knew the only thing keeping her awake was her strong conscious walls from her work with the darkness, but it was taking everything she had left not to fall into their control.

When it finally lifted, Superboy was standing upright and the others were beginning to stir. He had talked to them--she didn't know for sure, but something told her he did. There was something different, the tension wasn't as heavy, and the Genomorphs were all looking expectantly at them.

"Guardian?" Superboy asked.

"Go. I'll deal with Desmond."

"I think not." The Genomorphs parted to reveal Desmond standing behind them. Hearne weighed the options carefully. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus."

He held up a vial of neon blue liquid, and Hearne watched in horror as he drank it, his body immediately wretching, as if it was trying to reject whatever he had done. He fell to his knees, his muscles convulsing as he cried out--and then his lab coat burst, grey skin coming from beneath it as his body grew. She felt sick as she watched his skin break apart to reveal the new one underneath, as he growled deeply, like a monstrous creature.

He stood at his new awful height and roared, and she could only think one thing: he had become a monster in every sense.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian ran forward, attempting to hit Desmond in the knee, but he only batted him away with one arm. Guardian crashed into the wall and Hearne could only hope that the crack didn't come from him.

Superboy burst forward, face red with anger, and he landed one punch before Desmond hit him in the chest, knocking him across the room. They were moving too fast fr anyone to interfere--punch after punch, kick after kick--and then Desmond met Superboy in the air, colliding through the ceiling. 

Hearne coughed as she inhaled the dust, but she followed the others to look up through the hole in the ceiling. With a small wisp of darkness, Hearne jumped cleanly upward, landing in a kneel as she took in everything that was happening. Before she could move, Superboy was thrown in their direction, and she skidded across the floor, his weight dragging her down.

She gasped, pain radiating through her body, her cheek bleeding from scraping across the cement floor, but Wally was quick to come to their aide, helping Hearne up and throwing her arm over his shoulder.

Desmond roared and Hearne exchanged a quick glance with Wally, and he seemed to understand what she meant. She climbed onto his back, and at a speed faster than she could understand, he ran forward before skidding to a stop, catapulting her forward--and directly into Desmond's face.

Her knee landed on his nose, a sickening crack echoing through the lobby as blood spurted onto her knee. She brought a hand full of darkness down onto his head, and he roared with pain, flinging her into a pillar halfway across the room.

Everything went blurry for a moment, her body slumping downward as the pillar cracked from the force of her hitting it. Her ears rang slightly, but she pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the distinct feeling of blood running down from her ear.

" _O, get away from the pillar!_ "

She rolled to the side just in time, because Wally sped past her, narrowly avoided Desmond's punch, which landed directly on the pillar. It crumbled completely, nearly knocking Wally over. That's when their plan made sense to her. Superboy and Wally were knocking down pillars, Dick was drawing an 'x' on the floor, Kaldur was firing water onto the floor--they were knocking down the support beams to crash down onto Desmond.

She sprinted over to Dick, heart pounding. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"56% sure," he said. "According to the simulation I just ran."

"Great." She took a deep breath as Desmond slipped on the water and Kaldur ran electricity through it. "I like our odds."

Dick threw disks at the remaining pillars, and as they started to beep they ran, a desperate chase for the doors that they all knew were too far. It was impossible to hear what Kaldur was yelling, everything was crashing down behind them, and the doors were too far and--

She tackled Dick and Kaldur to the ground right as the building crashed down on top of them, the brunt of the weight falling down onto her, her shield of darkness baring down onto her under the weight. When everything stopped, she slowly pushed herself up, the darkness obeying her, and the rubble lifted.

She stumbled over to where Superboy and Wally were, a small smile on her face. "We did it," Wally said, an almost-obnoxious grin overpowering him.

"Was there ever any doubt?" 

Hearne rolled her eyes at the boys, but when Dick held up two hands, they all high-fived--and immediately winced. 

"See?" Wally said. "The moon." He gestured to it, and Hearne looked up at the full moon, slightly in awe of it after being trapped underground for so many hours. And then a distinctly familiar shape started to come down from the sky. "Oh. And Superman. Do we keep our promises or _what?_ "

Batman was going to kill them--no, Bruce and Athena were going to kill them. And that was _so much worse_.

Several members of the Justice League came down all around them, and Hearne could only wince in preparation. They had left the Hall when they were specifically told not to, they had went to Cadmus when they were specifically told not to, and now they had blown it up, trapped a mad scientist under the ceiling, and had a cone of Superman standing beside them in a tattered solar suit.

If Hearne was smiling, she definitely wasn't.

Superboy walked forward and held up part of his tattered suit, revealing the insigna, and Superman's eyes widened.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman said, masking his surprise.

"He doesn't like to be called an 'it,'" Wally whispered.

Batman's eyes narrowed deeply at that. "Start talking."

_* * *_

_**"END RESULTS ASIDE,** _we are not happy." Hearne picked at the torn piece of her suit on her thigh. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lives. You will _not_ be doing this again."

Kaldur's jaw set tightly. "I am sorry, but we will.

"Aqualad," his king said, "stand down."

"Apologies, my king, but no." Aquaman's eyes widened. "We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do." He raised his tattooed arms slightly. "Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, _important_."

Flash looked stricken. "If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the four of you--"

"The _five_ of us," Wally corrected. "And it's not."

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us," Dick said. "Or why teach us at all?"

"Why let _them_ tell us what to do?" Superboy abruptly said. "It's simple. Get on board, or get out of the way."

Hearne stared ahead, confidently, but she could only think about two things. One: Bruce was pissed. Two: she was going to have a hard time convincing Athena that Superboy should stay with them.

That was a problem for later, though. She was just happy that they had done something--that they had made a _team_ \--all on their own.


	3. Trust

**HEARNE HADN'T BEEN TO THE CAVE--OR MET MISS MARTIAN--EVEN THOUGH HER TEAM ALREADY HAD.** She took a trip to Peru, to the compound, just to make sure everything was still intact, that Cadmus hadn't dug up any of the graves. They hadn't.

But going to that place had significantly worsened her mood, even after she had been home for three days. She had been nice to Superboy, doing her best to act like nothing was wrong, but he knew that wherever she had gone upset her.

But it was fine, that was the past, it didn't matter anymore. Except it _did_. Because she was ignoring Dick, and Dick wasn't one to be ignored--even worse, he knew Hearne, and he knew that few things managed to rattle her so deeply. He didn't know what it was, she prayed to the gods he never would, but he knew it was damaging enough.

It was hard. Because Hearne had worked through it--or at least she had tried the best she could--with the help of Black Canary, the only person she trusted to know the gritty, ash-filled details of what truly happened. Yet it only made it worse. Because if she hadn't worked through it, it wouldn't be boiling at the surface, demanding to be dealt with, to be seen and heard and _felt_.

Superboy was spending more time at the Cave, feeling his way into things as hesitantly as he could, and Athena was busy with charity work no matter how much she tried to be there. But Dick was there, even when she wished he wasn't. He didn't say anything about it, didn't ask. But it went unsaid: wherever she went, he wanted to know.

But he couldn't. Because then she wouldn't be his Best Friend and Partner Hearne, she would be Orphan Hearne and Sole Survivor Hearne. And she knew--she knew he would get some of it--but even he wouldn't be able to grasp the truth of the situation. No one could. It was unfathomable to them.

Even though she wanted to lie in bed until she stopped seeing the old compound or the new one of ivy and rubble behind her eyelids, she knew she had to go. To keep up appearances. She had agreed to be on the team, she promised, she couldn't _not_ be there, especially not since Miss Martian had joined and she hadn't even greeted her once. And the worst part: she had told Superboy she'd help him, but there she was, moping over something that happened years before.

No, she was wrong. She had the right to mourn. Everyone had the right to mourn. She had the right to mourn her family and species, even if they told her she wasn't allowed to cry.

She was Hearne fucking Fowler, the hero known as Olympian. She could kick depression's ass, she'd break its nose and rupture its spleen in two clean moves. 

The violent promise seemed comforting up until the light of the Zeta Beam cleared and she saw her teammates standing not even ten feet away. Her eyes went wide, some small part of her hoping that maybe they wouldn't know she was there even though the computer automatically announced her presence.

Miss Martian turned, a bright smile on her face. Her hair was a dark auburn, nearly brown, and her skin was a vibrant green. A small part of Hearne was star-struck at the pure beauty of her.

"Hi, I'm M'gann!" the Martian greeted, floating over to her quickly. "But you can call me Megan, it's an _Earth_ name."

Hearne nodded. "Hi, Megan. I'm Hearne--or Olympian, it's up to you."

Megan smiled. "It's so nice to finally have another girl--it's like having another sister! Well, and Earth one."

She blinked, her stomach sinking. "I--"

"Hey, Megan," Dick said, stepping in to her aide. "Didn't you say you had cookies in the oven?"

" _Oh!_ "

She hurried off toward the cookies, the others seeming to get the hint, though Conner took a nudge and whisper from Wally before he understood. 

"I--thank you," Hearne said, her heart still beating fast. "I-I don't know what happened." She shook her head, eyes glassy. "I'm sorry, Rob, this is so stupid. I shouldn't have even come here, I just--"

"Hey, hey--it's _fine_. Megan just . . . doesn't understand Earth boundaries, yet." He adjusted his sunglasses. "...You wanna talk about it?"

Hearne blinked in surprise. "About what?"

"You froze when she said 'sister.'"

"Oh, that." She bit her lip, glancing nervously at her partner. "I--I had a sister, years ago. I guess I never got used to people saying it after that."

Dick's face softened. "What was she like?"

He always chose the right words with her, somehow. He knew just what would make her explode, and he always managed to steer clear of it.

"I don't know," she said. "I never--I never got to know. She was barely a year old. There wasn't much to know. But . . . she cried, a lot. She didn't like storms. I always tried to keep her quiet, because the louder she was, the angrier everyone became, and the more she was taught. I didn't--I didn't want her to get hurt, she was my sister."

"You've never told me about her," he said, gently.

"I never had a reason to." She wiped at her face with her sleeve. "It's not something you'd want to know, it's a grim story." She smiled shakily. "Anyway, how about those cookies, huh?"

"Hearne--"

" _Cookies,_ " she pushed, already walking away. "Don't you like cookies, Robin? Everyone likes cookies."

When they got to the kitchen, mostly by Dick's lead since Hearne had never been in the Cave before, Wally immediately shoved a cookie into her hands. "You have to try it," he demanded. "They're, like, the best thing."

They were nearly burnt, but Hearne took a bite anyway. "It's good. Thanks, Megan."

The girl smiled brightly at the praise.

Hearne glanced at Kaldur, the only one who didn't have a cookie in hand. "You gonna have one, Kal?"

Megan cocked her head to the side slightly. "...Kal?"

"We are off-duty," the Atlantean explained. "There is no need for our alter-egos. My name is Kaldur'ahm, but my friends call me Kaldur." He smiled slightly. "And Hearne calls me Kal."

"I'm Wally," the ginger said, leaning onto the counter. "See? I already trust you with my secret I.D. Unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here. Batman's forbidden Boy Wonder telling _anyone_ his real name."

Megan smiled. "Mine's no secret. It's M'gann M'orrz. But, you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now."

"I'm Hearne," she offered. "Wait, nevermind, you already knew that."

Superboy began to walk out of the room, and Hearne sat her cookie down and moved to follow him, but something stopped her dead in her tracks. Megan's voice in her head. She could feel it, a presence in her mind, something unwelcome, pushing her thoughts to the surface. 

Hearne stood still, her gaze immediately going unfocused. She couldn't hear what everyone was saying, all she could hear was her own heartbeat. It was Megan, but it wasn't. It was them, it was her family, they were inside her head again, they were dead but they were there and--

A hand settled on her shoulder and she flinched away, eyes wide and defensive. It was only Dick. "Hey, it's okay. Miss M--she didn't know."

Hearne blinked, looking around the kitchen, only to find that no one was there anymore. "What happened? Where did everyone go?"

"Megan went to show them something. I . . . I said I'd talk to you. You--you seemed unresponsive. It was freaking them out."

"Oh, well, sorry my trauma is 'freaky,'" she huffed. "Wait, shit. I didn't mean to say that out loud. I mean, it was what I wanted to say, but you didn't need to hear that." She took a deep breath. "This is going terribly. I just--I'm stressed right now, and Megan in my head didn't make it any better. I don't--I don't like people messing with my head."

"I know, you nearly took Joker's head off one time." Dick put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, you don't have to be okay with it. I wasn't either. Just . . . she didn't know."

"I-I know that. It's not her fault." Hearne blinked as she picked up another cookie. "You go with them, I'll find you later."

"...You sure?"

"Yeah. Go have fun, I'll meet up with you guys later."

_* * *_

_**IT HAD BEEN**_ two hours. That was how long it usually took Hearne to calm down when she was upset or angry, but the fact that they weren't back yet didn't help.

They had taken Megan's Martian Bioship out into Happy Harbor, which she only knew because Dick had texted her about it. Rationally, he didn't have to, because their phones were connected by trackers (courtesy of Bruce and Athena), but it was nice that he did anyway.

At the thought of Athena Hearne's eyes widened and she hurried out of the tracker app and into her contacts, hurriedly scrolling down to Athena's name and clicking it. It took nearly three rings until she finally picked up.

"Hearne! It's in the afternoon and you said you'd call me when you got to the Cave and--"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I--I got busy, it won't happen again." She walked toward the hangar, phone in hand. "I finally met Miss Martian, I think you'd like her. She's . . . bubbly, and she likes to cook. Her cookies are really good."

"What about Superboy? He left around when I did, is he there too?"

"Uh, the team went into town . . . to the market, I think? Or grocery store, whatever. That's what Rob said they were going to do."

"And you didn't want to go with them?"

"I was busy checking out the Cave--it's really cool, it has everything we could ever need. Even a medbay, but I don't think half of us know how to do stitches properly."

Athena laughed. "Well, I have to get back to my meeting. Text me when everyone gets back safe, alright? And if anything happens--"

"Alert the League," she sighed. "I know."

"Well, _last time_ , you four decided to break several laws, quit, and bring back Superboy. So I'm a little worried about the logistics of you six. Especially Wally."

Hearne smiled. "It's fine--they're at a grocery store, how much trouble could they cause?"

A bone-rattling clap of thunder sounded and the water below began to crash against the stairs. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing, gotta go!"

She shoved her phone into her pocket and took to the air, darkness beneath her as she flew through the open hangar door. She left them alone for two hours--how could they cause that much trouble in two hours? And it had to be them, because it was partially cloudy, and most definitely not the season for tornado-like weather.

And, of course, Hearne managed to find them right at the center of it all.

Small pieces of debris that were being sucked into the storm hit her, scraping along her exposed skin, but she ignored it, falling into a kneel on the ground. Her team was on the ground, unconscious, and there was a fucking _red robot_ flying in the air, seemingly controlling the storm. She didn't understand anything, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Is this a friend of yours?" it mocked, its robotic voice deep. It shot several bolts of lightning toward her and she threw up her arm, a sheet of darkness shielding her, but some of it scorched through and tore her tank top.

 _That was her favorite shirt_.

It fired another bolt of lightning and she produced a larger shield, darkness forming out of thin air, going from wisps to thick, dark sheets that were impossible to see through. The darkness formed a dome around them, far enough around that it couldn't hurt them--but she couldn't keep the robot out forever, not with a shield that size, not with its lightning.

"Fine, conceal yourself!" it yelled. "But if you attack me again, I will not hesitate, children."

As soon as she heard him go away and the storm cease, she lowered the darkness. Megan was already waking up, but the others were still unconscious.

"Rob--Robin, come on," she said, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up!"

She pinched his neck and he shot up, nearly knocking his head into hers. " _Ow!_ What was that for?"

"You weren't waking up, I thought you were in a coma or something." Her shoulders relaxed once she saw everyone beginning to stir awake. "What happened here? What was that thing?"

"It--I don't know. We thought it might have been Red Tornado, but it wasn't." He blinked groggily. "What happened to your shirt?"

"I had to save your asses, and now you owe me a shirt." She punched him in the shoulder lightly, but the force still made him groan. "Use your rich boy money."

"You're, like, a billionaire!"

"Technicalities, Rob."

Superboy punched a chunk of rock and Hearne flinched, her shoulders going up to her ears. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado!" he yelled, his anger focused on Megan.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Kaldur defended.

"It--it was a rookie mistake," Robin agreed. "We shouldn't have listened."

Wally stuck his hands in his pockets. "You are pretty inexperienced." He hiked a thumb over his shoulder, toward the direction of the cave. "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here."

Superboy walked away, adding a quick, sharp comment Megan's way. The others followed, back toward the city of Happy Harbor, in the direction that 'Twister' had gone.

"I was just trying to be a part of the team," Megan sighed.

"To be honest," Kaldur said, "I'm not sure we really have a team."

When Kaldur took off running, Hearne stayed, hesitantly placing a hand on Megan's shoulder. It seemed to comfort her. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what happened but--I know you tried your best. It's hard to learn how to be a hero, it takes time."

"I keep doing it wrong. Earth is so strange and--and nothing makes sense." Megan shook her head. "How can I be part of your team if I can't be like you guys?"

"That's the first problem: none of us were raised the same," Hearne said, sitting down beside her. "Kaldur was raised in Shayeris, Wally was raised like a normal child, Robin--well, that's classified, and Superboy was raised to be a weapon for Cadmus. I wasn't even raised human or by heroes--so it doesn't matter where you lived, or how you were brought up. Teams are made of people who want to forge something great and powerful, not people who are alike."

Megan perked up slightly at that. "You don't care that I'm from Mars?"

"Of course not." Hearne smiled slightly. "Now come on, we can't let them tell you what to do, right? I'm a founding member of this team--so fuck them, I say you go."

Megan smiled, blinking back her tears. "Alright. I'll go."

_* * *_

_**"I SHOULD CALL**_ Red Tornado," Megan said as she steered the ship toward Happy Harbor. "He has similar powers to Twister, he can do it."

Hearne shook her head. "No way, we're not calling Tornado. If we call him, then what's the point? We made this team so we weren't burdens on the League anymore. If we call one of them to get us out, we're their sidekicks again."

Megan bit her lip. "You're right but there's nothing we can do. Twister's too powerful. And they're immune to my telepathy, I can't--"

"Immune to your telepathy?" Hearne leaned forward in her seat. "That's--no one's immune to telepathy, not even telepaths like you. There are the cheats to it, like blocking with memories, or training to do it, or number sequences or--but you can't be immune, not unless--"

"Hello, Megan!" The Martian hit herself on the head lightly, almost like it was her catchphrase. "Of course! You can't be immune to telepathy unless there's nothing to break into. Twister isn't alive, at least not with a brain."

They were getting close to Happy Harbor, right at the center of it all. Twister was decimating the town. "Tell them."

"I--how? We're too far, we don't have any comms--"

" _Telepathy,_ " Hearne said. "They'll be mad--and they have a right to be--but we don't have time to get down there. Someone's going to die. One of them or a civilian."

Megan nodded. "You're right, I have to do it."

 _Listen to me,_ Megan said, her voice appearing in Hearne's mind. _All of you._

 _What did we tell you?_ Superboy yelled, the anger in it making Hearne flinch.

 _I know and I know I messed up but now I'm very clear on what we need to do._ Hearne gripped her chair tightly, doing her best to think happy thoughts. _Please trust me._

 _Fine,_ Kaldur said. _What is the plan?_

_I'll come shapeshifted as Red Tornado, Hearne will come in behind me. I'll say you have to leave, that Red Tornado is handling it. Twister will think it's him, and Wally, you'll create the tornadoes. We'll take Twister down then, while they're distracted._

_It . . . is a good plan,_ Kaldur amended. _Alright, we will do it_.

With an agreement from the others, and a grunt from Superboy, it was settled: Megan's plan would work.

"Okay, cool." Hearne looked Megan dead in the eyes. "Cut the line."

The Martian nodded quickly. "Yes, yes--doing that right now!"

The girl let out a breath as the presence of Megan went away in her mind. "Welcome to the team. Hopefully, I won't be as IA as I was before."

"...IA?"

"It means in action," she explained. "Like . . . I was doing important things that I couldn't do with the team, so I didn't come to the Cave for a week or two."

"Oh! My Uncle J'onn says 'MIA' a lot. Is that the same thing?"

"It's . . . kind of. That means missing in action, so no one knows where they are, if they're alive, or anything. Basically, it's a fancy term for 'they're probably dead.'"

Megan blinked. "Oh. I thought it meant the person was busy and that's why they wouldn't answer his calls."

"Yeah, sorry, I don't think they were busy."

Megan set the Bioship down a block away from where the others were. When Hearne stepped out the winds nearly pushed her off her feet as a cyclone brushed past them. They didn't have much time before someone got killed.

"Alright," she said, "let's go."

Hearne followed behind Megan, who was now shifted into an uncanny version of Red Tornado, darkness propelling the young Fowler forward. Their four teammates were doing little against the robot, barely managing to even get close, and Superboy was growing frustrated until he began throwing things.

"Hit the showers, boys," Megan said, her voice robotic. Hearne landed behind her, beside Dick. "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now!" Dick objected.

"The subject is not up for debate."

With hung heads, they walked away, toward an area of semi-safety thirty yards away behind a cluster of overturned benches. Wally gave them a cheeky thumbs-up as he sped off, a small tornado quickly forming around Megan's shifted form, spinning out once Twister created his own.

"We are evenly matched, Twister," Megan announced.

Another flurry of tornadoes.

"No, Tornado, we are not!"

Twister's massive metal fist hit the ground, creating a small windstorm in its wake. The robot raised its arm and fired a bolt of electricity at Megan, which she barely managed to fly away from each time it came close. The electricity hit a nearby car and exploded it, throwing Megan's shifted form to the ground as if she was a ragdoll.

Hearne went to spring forward but Kaldur caught her wrist in a tight grip. "No, Hearne. We have to let M'gann do this."

He was right, but she didn't have to like it.

She winced as what was left of her tank top brushed against her side. She hesitantly looked down, peeling back the fabric to see the red and bruised skin on her ribcage. A bolt of fear shot through her until she realized that her skin wasn't burnt, just bruised.

"You're injured," Kal said, stopping himself from reaching out to touch the wound. "When did this happen?"

"Twister shot lightning and I deflected it, but not well enough." Her jaw tightened. "It is fine."

Superboy nudged Hearne and they all moved out of their hiding spot. A tornado enveloped Twister, sending him sprawling, and Superboy punched the robot square into the chest, hard enough that it sent him straight into the harbor fifty yards away. With only a few anxiety-ridden seconds, Twister was back in the air, thrown out of the ocean undoubtedly by Kaldur, and Megan was using her telekinesis to rip the robot's arms clean off.

Twister fell to the ground and they all gathered together, preparing for whatever fight was to come--but it never did. Twister's chest opened up like a set of doors and a skinny white man fell out.

"Foul," he gasped. He reminded Hearne of a weasel. "I-I call foul."

How powerful was he? Looks could be deceiving, but even then, the man looked like nothing more than an inventor. How could he resist Megan's telepathy? It didn't make sense, she couldn't find an answer and--

Hearne gasped sharply as Megan brought a massive boulder down on the man. Her breath caught in her lungs until it bordered on painful, her heart pounding in her chest. Megan had killed that man, she had _killed him_ \--

But she couldn't sense the death in the air. The undeniable feeling that Hearne's species always got when someone near died, it wasn't there. Not even a trace of it. It was as if the man wasn't a man at all.

 _As if the man wasn't a man at all_.

"Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't _execute our captives!_ " Rob yelled, face pinched in anger.

"You said you trust me."

Megan moved the boulder up to reveal nothing but wires and metal. The man's face was metal, caved in, a glass eye fallen out with the wires still attached. Of course, he wasn't even human or anything of the sort. He was a robot, too, and that was why he resisted Megan's telepathy.

Megan gestured to the wreckage. " _That's_ why I couldn't read his mind."

Hearne let out a breath of relief as she smiled at the girl. "You're right, we should've trusted you. You made the right call even when none of us knew."

"I--thank you."

Wally grabbed the severed glass eye and smirked. "Cool! Souvenir."

"Should you really take that?" Hearne said. "It could be dangerous--"

"If I die from a cool robot eye, it'll be the coolest death ever."

She rolled her eyes and made her way over to Superboy who was standing a few feet away from the others. "Hey SB, you okay?"

"What?" He blinked, caught off-guard. "Yes, I just . . . didn't think this would happen today."

"Me neither, but I think it could have gone a lot worse, right? You guys did well--this was your first time taking down someone as part of this team, and we did it with barely any injuries."

His lips barely turned up in a smile. "I guess we did."

**Author's Note:**

> crossposted on wattpad and more frequently updated there! my @ is euphoricsenses


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